Keeping The Drive
by mizutanitony
Summary: Takes place 4 years after manga. Band is working hard and getting even more famous and must balance normal lives now more than ever. Have no clue what happens in Vol. 34 so give me a break. KoyukiXMaho, RxOC, Sakuxhiromi, ChibaxOC, TairaXoc.Not for kids.
1. Chapter 1

So I'm breaking from my usual BL writing to go into Het. This time Maho and Koyuki from BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. Also I'm probably gonna make Taira have a thing for someone in the band. "Why," you ask? Cuz he just seems to be a bit of one to flip from guys to gals....just like me! Story takes place three years after the end of the manga, which I have not read yet so this is all speculation about certain things.

Chapter 1

Opening her eyes to see the clock blinking that it was twelve-seventeen in the afternoon, Maho Minami yawned loudly and looked to her left to see her boyfriend sleeping soundly. She smiled and gave him a small kiss between his bare shoulder blades before giving him a small kiss on the neck. The director couldn't help but smile while she watched him grunt happily and smack his lips before getting out from under the covers. She scratched the top of her head and gathered up a tee-shirt and pair of panties from her dresser before heading out into the bathroom. Cleaning her face and brushing her hair, Maho gave herself one last look in the mirror before leaving their large spacious bathroom.

Stepping out into the foyer, Maho smirked seeing expansive nature of the penthouse-like apartment Koyuki had bought last year with his first huge bonus from their second album going double platinum. The Minami girl hadn't really expected anything like this and shrieked in absolute enjoyment when all of their friends screamed surprise once she opened her eyes after having a blindfold removed from her eyes. It was one of the best nights of her life especially when Koyuki, once the guests were gone, took her into the bedroom where their new bed got enough mileage on it to probably get them a trip to India and back for free.

Heading down into the recreation area, Maho grabbed the remote that was always strategically placed on a small table at the end of the stairs for her in the morning. Turning the television on, Maho tossed the remote and began to make her way into the kitchen when a sharp pain shot up into her foot. Giving out a short, but incredibly harsh scream, she reached down and pulled a couple of small screws from her foot and looked to the table to see the Gibson Custom 50th Anniversary 1958 Korina Explorer she'd gotten him for his birthday awhile back laying out on the coffee table along with his maintenance kit.

Growling loudly, she stomped up the stairs, hoping he'd wake up in fear, but when she saw that he hadn't, she flipped the mattress and tossed him onto the floor with a loud crack as his head hit his night stand. She continued to shout loudly at Koyuki as he shifted slowly from the wound to the back of his head. Watching the lump of her boyfriend finally pull the comforter off his head, Maho yelled at him again as he stood up and rubbed the back of his head in pain.

"What the fuck Maho?" He grumbled taking a look at his girlfriend.

"What do you mean by that? I stepped on some of your goddamn screws again since you once again forgot to clean up your mess, even after you said you wouldn't clean your guitar after I fell asleep?!"

Shaking from a sudden feeling of cold, Koyuki put on a pair of pajama bottoms and shirt as he took his struggling girlfriend to the foyer and pointed down at a lump on the second couch saying, "Did you even bother to notice that somebody was sleeping on the couch?" He gave Maho a second to notice a body shifting under the blankets until they gave way to show Saku snoring lightly. Looking to Maho, Koyuki smirked at her embarrassed look saying, "He stopped by at around three or so. Chiba needed a ride and he was a little drunk so he stopped by and I didn't get back to bed until, well you know what time I got back to bed."

Maho punched him hard in the arm at reminding her that he'd woken her up at five for a bit of early morning fun. Since the two of them had been working non-stop for the past few months, Maho was directing commercials and a few television shows, while Koyuki had been working on the chord progression of a new song, along a tour that had ended last night at a theater hall around one. Last night was the first time the two of them had any time awake with one another. Their schedules were open for the next few weeks and they planned on spending half that time alone before Koyuki had to head back to the studio for a week of recording on their latest single.

That wasn't anything unusual for the past couple of years with their schedules. Maho had graduated early, and Koyuki was touring non-stop so they had little time to spend together and when they did there were fights but the good times easily outweighed the bad ones. Last night was one of those many good times, especially when after the show security let Maho rush him on stage and tackle him with a hug and a kiss. Two things happened, one the band fell on the floor laughing at him and two, as they were heading to their car a few girls began nasty things at Maho which caused Chiba and Taira to take the ladies to the bar, and drag Saku along with them as designated driver.

Now in their bedroom, which was being cleaned up by the two lovers, Koyuki couldn't help but lean over and kiss his girlfriend heavily as she finished her side of the bed. He knew that she would lose her attitude at the kiss and right on cue she gave a small groan and pushed forward making Koyuki fall back onto the bed, and her along with him.

The young director couldn't resist the musician under her, especially when his callused hands rubbed along the smooth surface of her skin. Pressing against him heavily, to let him know what she wanted, Maho felt his hands move slowly down and broke from the kiss smiling as his hands reached the band of her underwear when a loud pounding came from the front door, accompanied by several rings of the doorbell.

Knowing exactly who it was, the director dropped her head sighing out, "He's going to do this every day until that kid is born isn't he?" She heard Koyuki mumble something about just taking the kid out with a plunger that forced Maho to smack him saying, "Just get up and open the do.....or. Too late."

Saku's voice drifted up from the stairs saying that their guest was waiting on the couch and fiddling with the guitar. Koyuki yelled that he'd be right down, gave his girlfriend a kiss, and went down the stairs to find Chiba rocking back and forth with the guitar in his hands like an infant. Koyuki was glad that it wasn't Saitou this time, as his teacher for some reason had an obsession with asking if he should have his male children circumcised. Chiba on the other hand was more nervous about actually seeing a child come from the body of his girlfriend of the past three years.

Settling down on the couch next to the M.C., Koyuki asked, "So what is it this time? A kick, a weird craving, or an incredibly smelly fart that should not have come from her ass?" He saw the corners of Chiba's mouth twitch in suppressed humor at the questions which gave let Koyuki know that Kiku wasn't mad about the drinking spree he'd had the night before. If there was one thing all the band members liked about Kiku was that she understood their lifestyle and knew Chiba would go out and drink, so long as he didn't cheat and kept his nights out to a minimum. And Chiba had stuck to that promise as last night was his first time in months getting drunk to the point when he couldn't make a coherent sentence.

Yet, the Karate expert was afraid of his girlfriend and called her constantly to check up on her. The band even found it quite funny that Chiba would be willing to go to child care classes and even took one of those crying dolls with him for a week to get an idea at the amount the pressure their was to being a parent. But at seeing Chiba look at the gorgeous being that was Kiku, all the guys were jealous of him at scoring someone like her. Even in pregnancy her body was enough to turn any guys attention. Her hair was a long deep red that shouldn't exist, and her eyes were so deep and blue that Chiba stopped singing for nearly a full minute the first time he saw her at a show, lucky for them the it was more of an encore and the fans thought Chiba was a bit worn out. Her legs were incredibly well toned which had Koyuki constantly averting his gaze from her when Maho was around for the first few months they knew the woman, that is until Maho accidentally muttered Kiku's name in her sleep in a manner that told Koyuki she had the same thoughts as he did about the girl. Now at the age of twenty-five Chiba was feeling the full effects of adulthood and had been in panic attacks for the past week as the baby was due in less than a month.

Seeing his friend grip the neck of his guitar, Koyuki reached over and took it gently before setting it down on a stand he kept near the couch. Seeing Saku and Maho eating quietly in the kitchen, Koyuki said happily, "So she's in a good mood? Why the hell are you over here if there's nothing bothering Kiku and there is nothing wrong with the baby?" Koyuki could see Chiba's face screw up and a few tears fall down them before he whispered something out.

Asking what was just said, Koyuki was surprised to hear Chiba say in a loud voice, "I'm having a fucking kid and I'm scared out of my mind my fucking mind!" At saying this Chiba walked to the refrigerator in an attempt to grab one of the few remaining beers, but was stopped by Saku and Maho causing him to scream, "Let me go you jerks! I don't want to think about what a loser father I'm gonna be!"

A sudden crack hit all their ears as Maho's hand made contact to rappers infuriated face. Chiba grew quiet, Saku in his usual quiet voice muttered, "I don't think that was the best thing to do," and Koyuki felt his eyebrows nearly go behind his hair line at seeing Chiba's shocked face. With her calming technique done, Maho took the rest of her fruit bowl up the stairs with her as she told Chiba to just shut up and deal with the fact that he was already a better father than his.

Letting their lead singer go, Saku stood up and scratched his head saying in his calm logical voice, "She's right man. From what you've told us and shown us I don't think you have anything to worry about. Plus with the fact that you made some wise money choices and already started thinking about your kids future I think you're going to do just fine." Taking one of his drumsticks from his back pocket, Saku did a sort of roll off of Chiba's hair before adding, "If you could just learn to think before you act, I'd say you have nothing to worry about. Ain't that right Koyuki."

Walking forward with his guitar, Koyuki shook his head saying, "You got nothing to worry about Chiba, but I'd say getting some of that energy out'll keep you sane for a couple days. How about a jam session up in the practice room?" He didn't even need to ask his two band mates twice.

At the far end of the hall of the apartment, Koyuki had converted one of the five bedrooms into a practice room, complete with sound-proof walls, for the band mates to come over and use. Granted they still blew plenty of money at studios, but in case of an emergency, or a sudden impulse to play, this room served them well as a way to work out chord arrangements and keep some extra equipment around if one person had to take a couple of days to make space in their home for it. Usually that was Saku as there were enough drums in the closet to make four complete sets and Taira used a couple of feet to store a few extra amps as well since Koyuki's bad luck hit them occasionally causing an amp to short out just at the start of a club show or practice gig.

The steady sounds of Koyuki's guitar and Saku's drums filled their ears along with Chiba's loud screams for a few hours and it was a good thing that they got this energy out since right as they finished the last song, Kiku called up Chiba to say it was time for a doctors appointment. The M.C. was much calmer than he would have been if he hadn't stopped by and amidst his sweat covered face he thanked his friends and left as Koyuki set his Explorer back amongst his other guitars. Besides his Mustang and Telecaster, Koyuki's collection now included the Explorer, a Gibson Custom L-5 CES, a ESP James Hetfield Iron Cross Electric Guitar, a Paul Reed Smith McCarty Hollowbody I Electric Guitar, as well as a new SG like the one he'd given to Ran a few years back, and despite many protests from the musician the Mr. Saito's White Falcon. These were his show guitars and among them were couple of cheaper guitars that he used for practice, and some even for shows despite the fact that they weren't as high quality as the others, but their sound was something he enjoyed and after a few arguments with Ryusuke, Koyuki used some of the guitars and through his playing of the cheaper ones changed the long haired guitarists mind in a way that only Koyuki could.

Saku's drums were all from Tama with Zildjian cymbals that took the narrow eyed drummers abilities far beyond what anyone could have expected. Saku had been entered in a few drum competitions and only once had he lost, and that was to a drummer who despite being twice as old, was much more experienced and had the same amount of stamina as Saku had, maybe even more since the man showed no signs of sweating after his and Saku's battle. As usual though Saku said, "Just means I have that much more work to do," and continued pushing his body and drums to their limit.

With Chiba gone though, the cleaned up the equipment and were about to ask Maho to go hang out with them when Saku's phone buzzed. Picking it up, the drummer smiled happily saying, "Yes Hiromi my darling buttercup?" Seeing Koyuki laugh at his greeting, Saku got a small earful from his girlfriend and kept quiet until she reminded him that they had to go and visit Saku's parents the next day and still needed to pack for their week-long visit. Sighing, Saku told her he would be home shortly and said, "I hate visiting since my dad still hasn't forgiven me for running off, but he's warming up to the idea now that he's seen that it was probably the wisest thing I did. However," he looked at a picture on Koyuki's writing desk, "I don't regret getting our equivalency certificates. Do you?"

"Well it's nothing for my mom to brag about, but at least we'll have something to help get us some jobs if we have to bide time for another music gig should our popularity drop a bit." He and Saku both gave a loud laugh before saying goodbye to one another and Koyuki, after realizing how much he smelled, went to take a long warm shower. Standing under the nozzle, he gave a happy sigh at finally having enough money to support him and Maho on album sales alone. Even though he was able to do this, Koyuki had Maho's dad help him with investments and getting saving accounts made so Maho would be cared for if something happened.

Some minutes later he stepped into their bedroom to find an outfit laid out for him with a note that read,

_Get dressed, I'm downstairs and my parents invited us over._

_Apparently Ryusuke will be there as he and my dad have kind of reached an understanding,_

_but we'll see how long that lasts._

Putting on the long-sleeved tee she'd left him, and a pair of black khaki's, Koyuki went downstairs to find his girlfriend sitting on the couch with one of his acoustics in it's case. He raised an eyebrow, asking why she had his guitar, to which she replied, "Dad wanted to hear some of the new songs and I told him you'd do a few acoustics if Ray would agree, to which he did, I don't know why but Ray has been obscenely agreeable lately."

Taking the guitar from his girlfriend, Koyuki pulled her up from the couch and the two headed to the subway station. It was luck that they weren't mauled by hundreds of fans as one of the newer BECK videos was playing on some of the screen over the subway station. Glad he took a hoodie to hide his face, Koyuki sat down happily as Maho placed her head on his shoulder while reading a script for the next television episode of a drama she would be directing. The trip went off without incident, until the exited the train and Koyuki's hood flew off at a sudden draft and six teenagers ran up to him screaming for pictures and an autograph. Maho knew what to do and allowed for her boyfriend to be mauled, until the guitarist said that Maho was his girlfriend.

Hearing that they had an opportunity to get a picture with the two of them, the kids pulled Maho in and even asked for her autograph as one of the guys in the group was familiar with some of the work she'd done. Maho blushed throughout the pictures as she was more used to being cursed at than praised, and soon there was a flock of people around them asking for autographs and pictures. It took an hour for the subway security to break up the mob and the couple were escorted out of the station and had a cab flagged to take them the rest of the way to the Minami residence.

Paying the driver, Koyuki was about to walk up when the driver handed him a C.D., Sighing he gave a small smile and signed it to the drivers son saying, "Thanks for not making a big deal about it, and hope your sons lessons go well." The driver thanked Koyuki and took off leaving him alone on the sidewalk. Staring at the house in shock that once again his girlfriend went on without him, Koyuki walked in shouting, "Hello? Mister Minami? Missus Minami? Ryusuke?"

"Oy, Koyuki," came Ryusuke's voice from the living room.

Taking his shoes off, Koyuki went in to find Ryusuke and Maho sitting on the couch watching a movie on the large flat-panel television that hadn't been on the wall the last time he was over. Walking in, he clasped the raised hand of his long time friend and sat in one of the lounge chairs asking when their parents had gotten such a large television. He knew their last one was at least forty-inches, this one though seemed well over sixty, and he was sure that their dad wouldn't have forked over the money for something this extravagant.

Sipping at a beer he'd had in his left hand Ryusuke said proudly, "Got it delivered to them while we were on tour. Maho's dad was pissed that I blew some of my money on this for them, but as you can see," he pointed his can at the television before proudly stating, "It seems to have wormed it's way into their hearts." He smirked at his little sister before looking at Koyuki's guitar case and asked, "How's that new song going?"

Looking over to Ryusuke, Koyuki asked what he meant to which the lead guitarist said, "Saku said you came up with some kind of love song or something, and I was just wondering how the arrangement was coming since we need a new song for the next album we have to start making in October." He heard Koyuki groan as once again their producer was going to rag on him again for two months as the pressure of getting the album out affected his playing. Snorting, Ryusuke took another sip from his beer before saying, "Don't worry about it man. The guy isn't that hard on you now, last time it only took you twelve takes instead of twenty to get it right. Maybe by our fifth album with this company you'll be able to do it in two takes like Taira. OW!"

Maho pulled her fist back from her brothers head saying that he should learn to be a bit more supportive before running to the kitchen. Returning with a ginger ale for Koyuki, who was now looking like he was about to vomit where he sat, Maho was about to sit down when the front door to the house opened and their mother asked for help with the groceries. Always wanting to stay on the good side of Maho's parents Koyuki took his drink with him and helped with a few bags while Ryusuke headed out to the deck to begin cleaning the grill. Mr. Minami came in with some more soda and a case of beer.

Greeting Koyuki with a warm smile, the head of the Minami household shook his hand with a warm friendliness and kissed his daughter saying, "Well now, glad to see you finally got some time to visit us. And Maho my lovely daughter," he placed a kiss on his the pointlessly struggling girl who laughed at her father's affections, "you look more like your mother everyday. Any luck on getting that golf club set back soon?"

Koyuki and Maho looked to each other in hesitation at realizing they still hadn't gotten back the golf set Maho had hocked to help Koyuki get some money he had stolen from him for album costs. With their schedules it was a constant note in their emails, on the fridge, and a note next to the bed but they still kept on forgetting about it. And they had hoped he would to, but as they weren't going to ever really remember, Maho and Koyuki both took out their wallets and handed a wad of bills to the man saying, "Get yourself something better."

Snatching the money from the children, Nobuo counted out the bills and gaped at the amount they'd given him. Removing a few bills he said, "I don't need that nice of a set, save your money for something a bit more important than this old man's golf clubs. HEY RAY!" Nobuo shouted to the back deck. "How's that grill coming?"

Raising his beer, Ryusuke said, "Just fine Nobuo, a bit grimy I've dealt with worse cleaning the mold from Grandma's walls." Downing the last of his beer, Ryusuke set it on the side of the grill and took out the scraper while his mother brought out some of the meat she'd been marinating all day. Once the grill had been cleaned, Koyuki and Maho helped get the cold foods ready while Nobuo watched Ryusuke's grilling, and Ayumi, their mother, cooked up some potatoes and a few other foods.

After the food was prepared, the group sat down to the bar-b-que that Ray and Nobuo had prepared. It wasn't as bad as Ryusuke's first time cooking, but they still tended to drift towards the stuff not cooked by the guitarist. During dinner Maho had accepted an invitation to stay the night while Koyuki was in the bathroom which meant one thing to the guitarist and it didn't take long for it to happen.

As soon as there was a pile of about seven beer cans around his feet, Koyuki and Ryusuke began regaling Nobuo and Ayumi with some of their exploits from the latest tour. Taking his half empty eighth can and lifting it in the air, Koyuki shouted with a drunken slur, "Well it wasn't as bad as the time that you and Taira ran naked through the hotel before jumping into a pool filled with ten year old kids!"

Slamming down his twelfth can, Ryusuke stood up saying, "Hey asshole it was a bet and we both lost. Besides it was after one in the morning and we were sure nobody would be in there." Holding back a little vomit the guitarist then added in, "And besides I wasn't the one who sat there and peed off the balcony of my hotel room and onto a police officers head." Seeing Koyuki growl loudly, Ryusuke began laughing loudly as Ayumi and Maho finished up the remainder of the dishes. Nobuo was laughing to himself at the stories while sipping slowly at his third beer.

If there was one thing Nobuo was good at, it was getting Ryusuke to open up when he needed to. Granted now it took quite a large amount of alcohol, but at least he and Ryusuke were making progress with their relationship. Still he had to pull the plug on the beer as he was sure the two musicians would die of alcohol poisoning if he let it continue. Taking the two beer cans from the arguing band mates, and said, "You two still owe us a bit of music. So you two'd better sober up and play it for your sister and mother tonight or else you won't get any of the dessert Ayumi made." He'd wished he hadn't made mention of dessert as both Koyuki and Ryusuke's mouths bulged and they both vomited right onto the linoleum floor.

Knowing that this meant the two would be passed out until the morning, Maho took her boyfriend by the arm, while Nobuo took Ryusuke upstairs and deposited them onto the beds in each of their respective rooms. That didn't stop the two of them from waking up twice in the middle of the night to continue drunkenly their argument about who did the dumbest things on tour. Finally at two they realized that Chiba's drunken make out sessions with a group of transvestites before he met Kiku would go down as their best moment in all of their tours both past and future. At that moment the M.C. who was curled up next to his girlfriend, holding onto her stomach for dear life let out a sneeze so loud that he knocked the alarm clock off the woman's bed stand which was ten feet away from him.

Jerking awake from the sneeze, Kiku looked to find Chiba sleeping next to her stark naked without a blanket covering him. Putting the comforter over him she said, "Idiot, you can't get sick. We need you." She smiled and gave him a kiss before falling asleep looking at the picture of the band on his night stand and said good night to the rest of the band just as Koyuki got up to continue vomiting up all of the alcohol he drank at dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

Glad to see some people enjoy it. I'm going to try and write songs. I suck at it but I'm going to try and write a few for Koyuki since well it's a Koyuki based story, but I'll throw in some attempts at Chiba if you guys want it. Let me know if you think that's a good idea. And I am going to switch between band members on occasion since hell there is five of them and it'd be pointless not to even acknowledge their presence in the story.

Chapter 2

"God damn it Chiba," shouted Ryusuke after the wail of Koyuki's Explorer died and Taira's new 4-string Fender '64 Jazz Bass hummed momentarily before being unplugged by it's owner so that the blonde could hear the latest fight between Ryusuke and Chiba fighting in the recording room the guitarist had built onto the fish hut for when they needed more private settings to work out the kinks in their latest songs.

Setting his Maple Paul Reed Smith SC 245 down on the stand, Ryusuke violently pulled his friend into a headlock before taking his free hand and began to pull at the rappers afro as he growled, "You know when we're practicing to not open the door or else it'll fuck up all the recording we're doing."

"Speaking of which," came Saku's voice from the corner, "the microphones and camera are still running, so keep it going because I think this is all gonna be a kick ass blooper reel for a DVD if we ever do one."

Walking over to the computer that was set up, Koyuki hit the stop button and gave Ryusuke the okay to continue to beat on the M.C. while Taira tried in vain to get the long-haired guitarist to stop so that they could find the reason Chiba would open the door. Granted they had time off and since Chiba only needed to rest his voice on these breaks, Taira knew that the singer would barge in if he came up with new lyrics or got a practice gig. But with his kid on the way, it was usually in a panic to hide from his own anxiousness about being a dad. Taira couldn't blame him, both him and Chiba didn't really have male role models and it's always a fear for people like them to worry about turning out like their dads.

Giving a sigh and wanting to keep Chiba from finally losing his cool and pounding their lead guitarist into a bloody pulp, Taira separated them saying with, "Since Koyuki decided to leave and get back to his vacation, I'll get Chiba out of here and get him home so the upcoming fight doesn't end up breaking an amp like last time." His voice grunted during the conversation since Chiba was trying to get at Ryusuke who was being kept in a corner by Saku in an attempt to keep the damage to their equipment minimal.

Outside the fishing house, Taira had to keep pushing Chiba away from the door as the singer continued to shout and curse insults at their friend. Finally once on the street, Chiba stopped yelling and began breathing deeply before smacking Taira and saying, "Why the hell did you do that? You know we would have taken it outside." Looking at his friend Chiba saw the bassist have a small smirk spread on his lips and pulled out a cigarette for himself and lighting it. Rolling his eyes at the bottle-blonde attempting to look cool, Chiba stuffed his hands in his pockets mumbling out, "Damn bassist and your stupid pacifying tactics."

Lifting his right foot behind him, Taira brought it forward into his friends backside saying through a puff of tobacco, "Quit your whining. Hell if it weren't for those tactics how much you want to bet we'd have broken up and still be working worthless part time jobs for the rest of our lives?" He moved next to the rapper and saw Chiba's face silently agree with him. Throwing the rest of his cigarette away, Taira placed a hand on Chiba's shoulder and cautiously asked, "What was it this time that made you barge in? Lyrics, Kiku, or did you see something about another rap battle?"

Jumping up onto a short concrete garden wall, Chiba continued walking calmly saying, "Found out yesterday I'm having a daughter." Looking down he saw a warm look of congratulations in his friends eyes. It made him happy that his friends were so supportive, and he wanted to smile, but he shook his head to Taira's gaze and said, "But a test showed that both Kiku and I have the recessive gene that could cause the same kind of medical problems my brother has."

Taira could hear the tears filling his friends voice as he mentioned this latest discovery. And it was a bit of a problem since they wouldn't know until the kid would be able to talk. Not knowing what to say, Taira turned to a vending machine and walked to it. He saw that Chiba had hopped down from his ledge and followed him muttering something about wanting three cans of juice and that one was to be guava, the next nectarine, and the last was to be an orange. Getting the three cans his friend wanted, Taira took a canned soda for himself and watched the vocalist down two of the cans in less than two minutes. Letting out a loud belch, Chiba opened his third can as Taira sipped at the his own sugared drink.

Rubbing his eyes in frustration at the silence Taira asked, "So, your kid may have problems? You've dealt with these before with your brother right?" Chiba gave a nod and Taira raised his can to his mouth saying, "Well then rejoice my friend as you are more prepared than most people who have this happen to their child. And with the cash you two are pulling in you can get the best help available in making sure your daughter isn't forcibly left to a life of mediocre education just because she might not be as smart as society wants her to be."

Seeing the light return into Chiba's face at Taira's words was always a sight to behold. For some reason, no matter what the situation was, the bassist could always make his friends feel better with a drink and a couple of kind words.

Meanwhile in a burger joint a few miles away, Koyuki was leaning with his head back in his hands, a piece of paper and pen sitting in front of him, and a fry slowly being chewed between his teeth. It was a thing for him to do something like this when he was beginning to write out song lyrics. A bit of food and a tall cold soda helped him figure some lyrics out, even if they weren't exactly that melodic. Staring down he looked at the first few lines he'd come up with.

_Twilight spilling across the room_

_The passion still evident in your eyes_

_I quake as my soul is _

His mind had shifted off towards thinking of when he and Maho had actually slept together for the first time. This song was supposed to be a way to express how she made him feel, but even without the pressure of having to come up with a song like "Devil's Road," Koyuki was still trying to over come the success of the song Eddie had left to him and the band. Picking up his Coke, Koyuki took a couple of large gulps and headed to the trash. Putting the few fries that were left in the trash, he picked up his notebook and headed out the door. Checking his watch, he decided to walk the few blocks to a store near the apartment. Picking up a few groceries Koyuki returned to the apartment to find a note reading in Maho's untidy scrawl,

_Had to run to the studio for a quick edit job._

_Left at 4 and I should be home at 8 so text me if you want take out._

_If you don't I'll assume you'll be cooking dinner and I'll take over breakfast duties._

_Love you, _

_Maho_

_P.S. _

_No booze tonight_ _since I'm not in the mood to change pee stained sheets again. _

Rolling his eyes at her note, Koyuki pulled out the pork and chicken he'd bought along with a few other ingredients for the special stir fry dish he knew would put Maho in good mood. It was an old failsafe that guaranteed two things for the guitarist. The first was that Maho wouldn't turn into her typical aggressive self, and the second reason damn near guaranteed he and Maho would have a high energy evening.

Problem was that instead of eight, Maho showed up at ten-thirty with a large half empty bottle of sake, and a rather cheap bottle from the smell of it; in her right hand and one of her assistants walking her in the door. Rushing from his half eaten plate of stir-fry, Koyuki took the bottle from his girlfriend, placed it on the small table near the door and then took his drunken girlfriend from the young man. Thanking the assistant, Koyuki walked Maho into the living room. Setting her down on the couch he wiped away the out of place hairs and smiled at her half opened eyes and mumbled words.

Deciding it best to take her up to bed, Koyuki leaned in to pull her up from the couch, but the ungodly strength she obtained from when she drank came out that forced Koyuki to become her new couch pillow. Shifting from the uncomfortable position his neck was in, the guitarist kissed the top of his girlfriends head saying, "I take it this is revenge for the sheets?" She shook her head and drunkenly muttered that she'd gotten a job with Jim.

"I'll take that as probably one of the best excuses for you coming home drunk," Koyuki watched her head lift up from his chest. Feeling her body shift upward, knew what was coming and immediately closed his eyes as Maho pressed her lips to his. After a few moments of soft kisses, Koyuki felt the director shakily try and lift herself into a sitting position. Moving with her to make sure she didn't fall, Koyuki held her close and kissed her neck whispering congratulations to her.

Rubbing her face into well developed shoulders he'd gotten from Saito's rigorous training, Maho placed her lips to her boyfriends ears and quietly said, "Let's celebrate right here," pulling back she pressed her hips down onto her boyfriend. Moving her hands to the bottom of her shirt, she pulled the long-sleeved tee-shirt over her head to reveal her bare torso. Acting as if she were embarrassed by her actions, Maho covered her breasts and with a mischievous smile said, "Or are you still too afraid to take advantage of a young girl like me?"

All that could be said after that was the advantage Koyuki had was very much taken.

*Two Days Later*

Ryusuke was sitting in the room of his condo sipping at a glass of orange juice. Having just gotten out of the shower, his hair was dripping onto the tile of his kitchen as the radio played the newest song from Room 13. Despite a couple of edits, Ryusuke smiled at their recent success and when the song was finished he turned off the radio to hear the latest on the news. While he preferred the fishing house, he kept this condo as a source of entertainment and comfort. Granted the fishing house worked wonders on some of the girls he had brought home, yet a few of them expected a nice place, so he kept this place as sort of a tax write off. It didn't get him much back, but it was still a nice place to have, and it also kept his mother from getting on his case about living at his grandmothers place of business.

Pounding some of the water from his ear, the guitarist growled at his cell phone ringing on a day he actually felt like having some privacy. Answering the phone, he was surprised to hear a voice shout out, "Ryusuke Minami!"

"Mr. Davis," Ryusuke exclaimed excitedly, "how the hell are you? It's been awhile."

"About a year or so my friend, are you treating Lucille well?" The old blues man took a slow drag from the cigarette he'd just lit as Ray told him to hold on for a moment. Hearing the clunk of the phone on the counter, John tapped the ashes from the tip of his cigarette onto the ground and smiled hearing a few long bluesy notes float through the receiver. Humming along to the tune, John's free hand began to strum along a few notes to accompany the notes until the music suddenly stopped. "Now Minami, why did you have to go and stop playing such a lovely little tune for?"

"That's all I have right now. If I can track you down we can perform it together." Ryusuke waited for an answer from the blues musician, he supposed that the old man was finishing a cigarette as a knock came at the door, walking over to the door he opened it to find the old man smiling at him as the phone began to beep as the busy signal kicked in. Tossing the phone to the side, Ryusuke gave the old man a hand shake, that the man turned into a hug, before walking to the couch.

Grabbing a shirt from the hamper he kept in the living room, the younger guitarist went to the kitchen, grabbed a few drinks, and sat on the couch that was next to the recliner the old man decided to make his. Handing one of the bottled waters to the blues guitarist, Ryusuke asked why the man was in Japan only to get, "I felt like getting out of New York for a bit." Taking a look to the guitar stand, John walked over and took Lucille into his hands and smiled at the bullet holes riddling the body of the Les Paul. Running a finger along a couple of the holes he said, "Plus this old guitar has been calling out to me to play her one more time."

Smirking, Ryusuke raised his bottled juice and took a sip saying, "Tell you what Mr. Davis," he saw the old man gaze up at him before adding, "we got a gig tomorrow to test out a few new songs, so why don't we play on stage together. Me and my," he took a look at the small collection of guitars he kept in the living room before deciding to grab a nearby Stratocaster from it's stand. Returning to his seat he held the guitar in his hands saying happily, "Me and Cameron here'll join you to show the audience how to play the blues."

Raising his bottled water, John clinked it to Ryusuke's juice before the two of them drained the liquids. Staring out at the sky, Ryusuke tilted his head to the side and said, "Come on, I have a place where we can practice in complete solitude. And maybe we'll be able to catch a few fish for dinner tonight as well." The old man beamed at the young guitarist and helped him with the guitars as the two started their day of doing nothing but play the blues and enjoy some fish.

The next evening in the green room of the bar they were playing in, Ryusuke introduced John to the other members of BECK and was not surprised that Koyuki and Taira were the only ones nervous to meet him. Granted their English wasn't the problem as both had pretty much mastered it in the past couple years, save for their accents; it was more at the fact Ryusuke had made them listen to some of his rare recordings and the two idolized the man as much as their lead guitarist. At sound check, Ryusuke and John took a bit longer than the others to get ready as the management tried to make a stink over the old man being in the group.

"Well then we can just leave if you want? Hell most people have to spend half a paycheck to get a ticket to some of our shows," Taira said loudly from the bar. Setting his beer down, he walked to the stage, got face to face with the owner and whispered in his ear, "You have probably the biggest crowd you've seen in months out there, waiting to see us perform for dirt cheap and if you don't let us play this gig, you'll lose all that business and maybe never get it back." He heard the manager gulp loudly before walking off and gave John a thumbs up before heading back to his beer.

A few hours later the band was finishing their final song of the evening, a song that both Taira and Koyuki had written a couple months prior. The bass flowed in a much slower and curving nature that was a bit off the beaten path from Taira's typical Jazz and Funk styles of playing. And Koyuki's style had a bit more of a blues edge to it for the song, but the crowd was enjoying it and many of them had even pulled out their lighters to sway with the vocals and bass track.

After a final set of applause, the crowd was ready to disperse when Ryusuke walked out onto the stage and shouted in English, "Wait just a fucking minute you guys!" The crowd stopped and turned to see Ryusuke holding Cameron with his left hand as John sat in a shadowy corner of the stage. Sipping at his bottled water, Ryusuke gave it to a stage hand and continued, this time in Japanese, "Sit back down, or stand if that's what you were doing. I have with me a good friend tonight and want you to all watch this man as he is one of the reasons I play guitar. So please welcome Mister John Lee Davis."

The crowd gave a light applause at the man being bathed in a beam of light with his trade mark smile pinned to his face. Tipping his hat he settled Lucille onto his lap and plucked out a few chords before letting his fingers pluck out a sad, mournful song from the guitars damaged body. Giving him a few moments, Ryusuke joined in with a slightly more upbeat feeling that seemed to mix with Johns creating a type of bittersweet sound that had the two men bobbing their heads a bit with the beat. The elongated wails from Ryusuke's Stratocaster were somehow perfectly blending with the shorter, faster movements of Johns own playing style. The other members of Beck and the audience were so enthralled that it was a full minute before any of them had realized the two guitarists had stopped playing.

Sitting their with a small bit of sweat coming from their faces, the two stood up and bowed to the audience before walking off stage to thunderous applause. In the green room, the band was shocked to see a large sushi platter on the table that read,

_Just delivered from a friends restaurant._

_I apologize for my actions and hope you will continue working with us._

_Sincerely, _

_Management_

Picking up a piece, John put on a little wasabi and took the whole piece in one gulp. Chewing a bit he swallowed and shouted out, "Now that is fresh." Picking up two more, he ate them quickly and looked at the group of young men staring at him for his lack of etiquette. Smiling he shrugged, "I'm old and I traveled half way across the world yesterday. You don't like me eating it, then I'll leave you at a cross roads for the devil to take your souls in exchange for mine." Sitting down he took a plate and some of the sushi before the band laughed to themselves and began a night of binge drinking and stuffing themselves with sushi and take out food.

The next morning, Saku woke up with his face buried in a pillow on a leather couch. He wasn't particularly hung over; in fact his headache was more from sleeping awkward than from the drinks he'd had the night before. Looking to the left, he saw a familiar flat-panel television, four or five bass guitars and an amp nearby. Sitting up he popped his neck into place and stared at Taira's clock seeing that it was just after eleven. Glad that the band had called off their activities slightly early, early being nearly five in the morning, Saku was prepared to get up and go to the bathroom when he saw an unfamiliar face waving to him before heading out the front door of Taira's house.

Shaking his head at his friends latest sexual conquest, Saku relieved himself and walked up the stairs to Taira's room to find the blonde sleeping on top of his sheets stark naked with all his glory exposed. Grabbing the comforter from the floor, Saku balled it up and threw it on top of the bassist and gave a small cheer inwardly at it landing exactly where he needed it too. Walking to the dresser he checked his friends wallet to make sure nothing was taken, if it was cash they didn't have a problem with it missing, but all the credit cards and identification were there, as well as several ten-thousand increment Yen notes.

Hearing the bed shuffle, Saku wanted to let Taira know why he had his wallet when the bassist asked, "Where'd he go?" Assuming that the hung over musician was talking about his latest trick, Saku said the guy had just left and that he hadn't even touched anything in the wallet now occupying his hands. Waving his hand Taira said, "Thanks for checking that. I know it's a pain but at least it's kept us from getting our identities stolen." Getting to his feet, Taira walked into the adjoining bathroom and kept the door open a crack as he began his post-drinking rituals. Scratching his head as a stream began to flow from him, the blonde asked, "Anything planned today?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm going to head off to Hiromi's parents for the week seeing as we don't have any gigs for a bit." Staring out the window as his friend exited the bathroom, Saku added, "It's been almost six months since she's seen them, and she's getting a bit down about it. So," he pulled the train tickets from his pocket, "I got us a package that has full round trip confirmation on a huge sleeper car and full meal benefits as well since she needs to take a break from work."

Pulling on his tee-shirt as Saku finished, the now clothed bassist nodded in agreement while making his way out of the room. With Saku in front to catch him should he slip, Taira made his way to the kitchen and fixed some left-overs he'd brought home a couple days ago from an Indian restaurant one of his dates took him to. This one was a cute brunette girl from Italy who was studying abroad in Japan for the next year. He hadn't taken her home that night, but he had promised to call her when he had the time from his shows, and following his usual time-table that gave him another three days to call her.

Sitting down at the table, he pulled a soda from the fridge behind him while Saku ate some toast. Eating in silence the two were interrupted when Taira's phone rang. Raising an eyebrow he asked, "This is Taira," the person on the other end spoke for a moment before the bottle blonde said, "My guitar is ready for pick up? Is there a time you have that you would like me to come in to get it?" Remaining quiet, the bassist took down a few notes before thanking the person on the other end and looked to Saku saying, "I gotta go. Can you lock up on your way out?" Getting the thumbs up from his friend, Taira grabbed his hoodie and ran to the nearby bus stop.

It was a short ride to the repair shop and when he arrived a few of the regular customers greeted him, and the clerk gave him the okay to come behind the counter and into the back. Excusing himself from a fan who was asking him a couple questions, Taira went into the repair room to see his Music Man Stingray glowing in the dimly lit room. Walking over, he picked up his old friend and ran his fingers along the rebuilt neck. Smiling at the guitar he could have sworn it was a different one save for the fact that the paint job hadn't been changed, only reapplied and the scratches on the back of the body were all in their right spots.

Looking to his friend, Taira bowed deeply and put the payment on the table as the man gruffly replied, "Just be sure to not walk around drunk with it again. This thing wasn't easy to fix and if you do it again I'll make sure you can't get it fixed again. You're too damn fine a musician to do something so stupid and it's gonna take a long time for me to forgive you for doing something to one of the guitars that made you a star."

Nodding in understanding, Taira solemnly added to the mans comment, "Trust me, it's been hard without to perform without this guitar. And I made sure Chiba beat the hell out of me for doing something like that." He remembered the morning he woke up to see his guitar broken, and when the band told him he'd blacked out drunk and began trying to act like Pete Townshend, only to destroy the neck of the guitar rather than the body. It'd taken a few months to get the guitar repaired, but now that he had it back, Taira was feeling much better about being able to write a few more songs with the sound of his favorite guitar filling his ears.

Leaving the music shop, the blonde lit up one of his last remaining cigarettes and patted the case resting against his back. Looking up at the sun filled sky he said, "Come on Chuck, let's go home and see how well the old man fixed you up." And somehow the bassist knew the guitar was saying the same thing to him.


End file.
